


A shattered mirror, each piece reflecting a slightly different you

by WilhelmAres



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Single Parent, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Celebrities, Friends to Enemies, Human Kwami, Kwami Swap, Laundry, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-19 12:28:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 3,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15509880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WilhelmAres/pseuds/WilhelmAres
Summary: It's the unraveling of all thingsThe burning of the veilThe mirror is shatteredThe glass melding togetherThe end is here*Prompt fill for AU Yeah AUgust*





	1. Soulmates

Marinette didn't _always_ see the bonds. Very few people are born seeing them. To see them means you don't have one. 

The Dupain-Chengs celebrated a birthday one day, and mourned a death the next. On Marinette's sixth birthday, she asked what the string connecting Tom and Sabine was. The day after, they mourned a child they did not know but the knew they would have loved.

* * *

 

The next year, she met Chloé Bourgeois. Marinette noticed something fundamentally  _wrong_ with her bond. It was a depressive blue, instead of the vibrant green. It was flayed and torn. Marinette was used to this, having the same herself. She wasn't used to the sickening purple connection tied to the bond, starting out to the infinite. She  assumed the lie connected her to whatever her soulmate was.

* * *

 

Just before two years have passed since Marinette saw the magic, she met Kim. The third person with a flayed and torn bond, but this again was different. It reached for Chloé's, which in turn fought the darkness to reach his. They never connected.

* * *

 

The years passed and the sight grew. She grew to see people's souls, and eventually, emotions. She mourned the loss of Chloé Bourgeois, replaced by whatever that darkness is. It consumed her soul, and drove her to cruelty. She learned soulmate binds are stronger than imagined, twisting Kim though his open bond.

* * *

 

At age 13 (almost 14! she cries), Marinette meets two more people with a relation to the darkness. The first was an 8-foot stone golum. It's soul was enveloped by the evil, the bond suppressed if not destroyed. The purple acting like a possessive creature than the slow corruption already seen. Ivan, she recognized him. She didn't recognize Stoneheart.

Just after she was thrown into the world of magics the second time, with magic earrings and a goddess, she met  ** _him._** The boy she mourned for, her other side. A good soul, battleworn with the dark purple wire on a flayed and torn blue bond streaking out into the city. The bonds trying to fix what was never to be broken.

The next day after school, she bothered to look at the new boy in class's bond. A sickness, connecting him--  _Adrien--_ with Chloé. A flayed and torn depressive blue bond trying to connect with Marinette.

In the rain, Adrien had two choices with the knowledge he had. 1. Give his umbrella to a girl in his class. 2. Use his umbrella with his girlfriend and (what his dad, her dad, and herself claim) soulmate. It really was no choice.

Marinette had to dry off when she got home.

* * *

 

 

The week before her fourteenth birthday, Marinette meets the final people with the purple plague.

Nathalie Sancour, heartless. More appropriately, soulless. She was empty inside. No bond, not even a flayed and torn one. The closest thing to a soul was the darkness in her emotions.

And Gabriel Agreste, a pitch black soul. But Marinette saw something else. A flayed and torn blue bond. And a bright, angelic purple in the shape of a butterfly on his chest. The darkness, creeping in.

 

 


	2. College

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Worlds collide in day 2: College

"We're telling you, right now, about the Ghost Baby. C'mon, Alya, what kind of journalism expert doesn't want to break the existence of ghosts!?"

"A good one that doesn't jump into obvious pranks?"

"Adrien, back me up here."

"We're telling the truth Al. Somewhere in the men's dorm, there is a baby crying. Every morning, a quarter to four. Nobody in the entire building has a baby! We propose you, and you Marinette, come to get our hunt on film!"

"No harm in trying Alya, and besides-- it gives us an excuse to spend the night with our boyfriends."

"Boyfriends!? Since when are we dating?"

"Who said anything about dating, Adrien? You and Nino are boys, and our friends. Boyfriends!"

"Really Mary? You gotta break my boy's heart like that?"

"Okay boys! Me and M will be there,  _if_ you order pizza. And if Nino actually asks me out for a proper date tonight."

* * *

 

*BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ*

The alarm went off, at the ungodly hour of 3:15. Nino groaned, but shook Alya awake. Marinette groaned, got out of Adrien's bed, and poured cold water on him where he slept-- a folding chair.

"For God's sake, mary! You couldn't have woken me up like a normal person? I get it, you don't love me back, but could you cool it with the pranks? Please?"

"Who said I didn't love you? I do love you, as a best friend, and hopefully one day, something more. But I can't afford a boyfriend right now. I need to focus on my studies, my career, my future. I only came tonight because I could study and I could get inspiration for my CR class. Staying with you was a nice bonus. I know two things, I love you."

"I love you too."

"And that. Be patient with me. And, if you can't, I won't blame you" Marinette finished.

"Okay. But seriously, can you cut back on the pranks? They're focused on me and I don't like it" Adrien tacked on, before being tackled by Marinette. 

They got ready for the search, checking phone batteries and camera charges. At precisely 3:47, a sound rung out. It was the sound of breaking, crunching eggshells, before the clear cry of a baby.

The gang ran out of the room, looking for the source. Adrien quickly picked up where it was coming from. They followed the sound to a janitor closet. Marinette was the first to brave opening the door.

Instead of mops and paper towels and sprays, there was a much too large room. Queen sized bed, a crackling baby monitor with a baby crying over it, and a view of the Eiffel tower in the distance.

"Als, you getting this?" asked Nino.

"I'm livestreaming this."

Marinette and Adrien, against all known rules of surviving the supernatural, walked into the closet. They saw pictures of themselves; a happy wedding here, middle school dance there, them with an unknown child scattered across the room.

Just as suddenly as the eggshells broke and cracked the first time, it happened again. And there was no more bedroom, and no more crying, not to Alya and Nino. To Adrien and Marinette, there was no way back to Eastern Illinois University. No way home.


	3. Single Parent

In the Agreste mansion, there was silence. The only sound being a faint hum of the baby monitor, light snoring from Marinette Agreste, and a deafening crack, like broken eggshells. Like the last 3 morinings, it woke Marinette up, but she mistook it for the baby crying. Because the cracking woke the baby, and she started crying. Loud, strange noises tend to startle infants.

Groaning, Marinette got up and went to care for Emma. She slipped on slippers, threw on a robe; she went to the kitchen, she heated a bottle of formula; she went to the nursery, she gently picked up her daughter, she gently started feeding her. She finished feeding her, held her close, and sang.

" _Dodo, l'enfant do,_  
_L'enfant dormira bien vite_  
_Dodo, l'enfant do_  
_L'enfant dormira bientôt"_

Impossibly quick for an infant, Emma fell asleep. Softly, the new mother placed her in her crib. She was the light of her mother's life, especially since Adrien disappeared.

Marinette quickly checked her cell phone, and noticed a voicemail. _Officier Raincomprix._ She turned the volume up and started it. She barely paid attention when she entered her room.

"Désolé madame, nous n'avons toujours pas de piste pour la disparition de votre mari. Si tu venais demain…"

Nobody heard the rest of the recording, not Marinette, not the other Marinette in her room, not Adrien.

"Adrien, où étais-tu passé! Nous avons été malades malade!"

"Marinette, why is there a second you in Paris? Why are we in Paris!?"

"I don't know! How am I supposed to know!? You were the one who wanted us to look for the ghost baby!"

"Qui êtes-vous des imposteurs? Qu'as-tu fait à ma famille!?"

"We don't know why we're here!"

"Vous savez quoi!? Tikki, transfor…" The original/duplicate screamed, brushing against a bare earlobe, before going quiet in rememberance. She scampered towards the dresser, they scampered towards the door.

The intruders were in the foyer by the time Marinette ripped out a panel to a hidden compartment, containing a peacock fan she 'inhereted' from her father-in-law. She knew it was futile to chase them, and she knew it was crazy to call the police. Who would believe the woman who claimed her missing husband and a copy of herself shouted at her in a foreign language before fleeing? So, she made her way to the nursery, trying but failing to convince herself it was just a bad dream. 

A mindsplitting crack, like breaking eggshells, came from Emma's room. She peered inside, and found a familiar face standing over her daughter.

"Oú étiez-vous?"

"Tu ne croirais jamais. Je suis allé dans un autre monde, un endroit appelé Gravity Falls. Je suis juste heureux d'être de nouveau avec ma famille!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lullaby is untranslated French lullaby  
> other phrases went though google translate.


	4. Enemies

_"It's a deal, Papillon"_

* * *

  **"Get her miraculous, Chat Noir!" Says recent akuma. Click here for footage.**

_**"Chat Noir: The Modern Quisling? Don't be bemused, it's just the news"** _

_**Betrayal? Or Another Papillon Scheme: A Ladyblog Theory**_

* * *

 

_"You want to prove your innocence? Meet me at **this** address at 10:30 PM"_

* * *

 

" _I need your help, Alya. Be at **this** address at 10 PM so we can scout out hiding spots"_

* * *

  _A hand, modifying a thick rubber glove with black paint._

* * *

 

Both parties entered the closed down warehouse at 10:30. One caved into themselves, the other borderline cocky.

"Ladybug, you _know_ I would _never_ willingly work with Papillon. I have been _nothing_ but loyal to you. What will it take to believe me?"

 "Chaton, I know you weren't the one of us to make a deal. But, Paris doesn't. I need your miraculous."

Horror slowly dawned on Chat's face when he realized exactly what was said.

"Wait. ' _The one of us to make a deal'?_ Ladybug,  **what did you do?! Please tell me you didn't..."**

 **"** Didn't what?" a deep voice said from behind him, grasping his neck as they revealed themselves "Make a deal with me?"

They ignored the faint gasp in the distance, preferring to wrap the cat in yo-yo string. It wrapped around his wrists, then ankles, before bounding his legs together, and finishing with pinning his elbows to his torso.

"Why" was all Chat Noir was able to ask, betrayal and loss clear in his voice, but even clearer on his face.

"Good people explain, successful people act" is all she said, before reaching gloved fingers down onto his ring.

"If that's your reason, I only have one thing to say". And, as her right hand touched his right hand, a single word was spoken. " ** _Cataclysm_**!"

Ladybug recoiled back, Papillon dove down for Chat Noir's hand, and Chat Noir clenched his fist. Papillon stood back, waiting for the black cat's tranformation to fall so he could have the upper hand. Ladybug let out a bloodcurdling scream, grabbed her hand, and started begging forgiveness to all the gods she's wronged. Her hand turned black and a horrible smell spread throughout the room. Tears sprang and snot flowed from the raw emotion.

And when the heat of the melting rubber glove got too hot, she calmed down. She used her left hand to peel the protective glove off, revealing her normal (supersuit-protected) hand, unharmed. She asked if Chat really thought she wouldn't take precautions against cataclysm.

The villians tried to wait out the five minutes to detraformation, but the glove created a toxic smoke, threatening to push them out. Papillon suggested grabbing him and leaving, but Ladybug held her breath and grabbed the melting glove. She tossed it in the direction of the gasp.

Alya Césaire started coughing almost immediately, and she tried to run towards the exit. Knowing the futility, she hid her phone, and the recording of the event in a nook. She did what she never thought she would; she ran from her phone and the story. Alya turned around and saw Ladybug had retracted the yo-yo, then extended it again, producing a red and black spotted gas mask. Pressing on, Alya managed to reach the exit, turned around, and learned the use of the Lucky wasn't to stop her escape. It was to find and break the phone. She raced around the corner, and was distracted by a green flash. Peering into the window, she saw Chat Noir- _Adrien-_ escape Papillon's grasp. It looked more like Papillon was so shocked by the reveal of Adrien that he let go. She didn't hear the exclaimation of "son!" from Papillon, but Adrien sure did.

He jumped through the window, which broke with the normal sound of breaking glass, but was paired with the sound of cracking eggshells. Adrien grabbed his now-closest ally, and barged through the next door. Instead of a storage location, or a break room, or an office, they found themselves on the deck of a cruise ship overlooking the ocean. They turned around at the cracking of eggshells, and found the entered, or exited, though a solid wall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Intentionally OOC, but based on her canon willingness to throw her classmates under the bus in Rogercop  
> Word count of story before this chapter: 1516  
> Word count afterwards:2209


	5. Laundromat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gay™

Marc Anciel pushed open the glass door to the local laundromat. They had no change to start up the washers or dryers, but that was okay. That was okay because they didn't bring any laundry to clean. They were here for someone.

Looking around the room, Marc spotted his target, Nathaniel Kurtzberg. His head of fire, eyes of water, and skin of human cells, that's what they loved about him, physically. Otherwise, it's his kind demeanor and love of the arts. And, his acceptance of them being _them,_ not _her._

They approached, made small talk, then flirted with him so badly two small blonds slammed their machines close and stormed out together.

* * *

Nathaniel threw the last week's laundry into a bag, ran past the perfectly good, brand new washer-dryer combo, and left his apartment. He was a man on a mission: ask out Marc Anciel. 

Was it their beautiful hair that called him? Their soft face? Their way with words? Yes. It was the love of comics, of humanity, of beauty and goodness that made him fall for them.

When Nathaniel got there, he quickly looked around.  _Rose, Juleka, Chloé, Kim, Mylene, where's Marc?_ Having not arrived, Nathaniel shoved his clothes into a washer between Rose and Chloe and waited for them to get here.

* * *

Two true heros opened the door, both dressed in Cupid Halloween costumes. They had two Nerf crossbows, and they used them on Marc and Nathaniel.

"Just kiss for God's sake! Don't put us through this crappy 'unrequited' pinning! Me, Juleka, and even _Chloé_ are tired of being both of your diaries! Go on a proper date!"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (if you haven't noticee, I'm not good at fluff)


	6. Boarding School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know much about Harry Potter or Hogwarts, so here's a boarding school AU instead.

"Hey shortstack! Wanna hit the football field?"

"No Kim, I gotta study physics with Max." Alix said in a surprising English accent.

"What, you scared?"

"Yes, Muscle-for-Brains. I'm scared that I'll be sent back to London if I fail this test. I'm scared I'll fail if I don't study!"

* * *

"So, did that help?"

"Max, you are a genius. In education, though, you are as effective as a toddler. No offense, but you can't teach."

"I'm sorry. So, this is it? You fail this test, you go home?"

"Yea. My dad will pull me out and start me out with a job at the museum."

"What museum will he send you to?"

"Probably the London Museum. He technically works for the Louvre in Paris, but he only comes in like three times a week. He spends more time negotiating with the London Museum for the Louvre, like for exhibits and artefacts and stuff."

* * *

 

Alix watched in fear and anxiety as Mrs. Mendeleiev handed out their graded tests. Red lines seeped into the white paper, and she was hesitant to flip it over.

**_49%. See me after class._ **

A deep, dark emptiness settled into her gut. She held back tears. She wondered how she was going to tell her friends.

* * *

As everybody shuffled out of the classroom, Alix Kubdel approached Mrs. Mendeleiev's desk a woman heading towards her execution.

"Sit down Miss Kubdel. I know you've been having trouble in my class. I'm not here to chastise you for not understanding this complicated subject matter. Your friends have come up to me and vouched for just how hard you've been trying. Kim even said how strange it is that you haven't participated in any physical activity the last two weeks. So, with your okay, I'm going to set you up with extra credit and correction opportunities, as well as a tutorship with Mr. Agreste. This is a school, we reward effort, not results, and you've shown incredible effort. I'm proud of you."

This time, Alix didn't hold back the tears. She thanked Mrs. Mendeleiev tremendously, and ran off for her friends, a smile on her face.

 

 


	7. Famous

"Honey!?"

"What!?"

"Where's my..."

"Adrien, you finish that reference and I finish this marriage!"

"Fine! Where's my costume!?" 

* * *

Adrien and Marinette Agreste, dressed as their characters from the _Miraculous_ film franchise, sat down behind the table. Nino and Alya Césaire sat to Marinette's left, Chloé Bourgeois and Gabriel Smith to Adrien's right, and Nathaniel Kurtzberg in between them. All the actors and actresses dressed up in-character, with Nathaniel in a nice jacket.

"Let's get started! First question, you. In the rainbow shirt"

"What do you have to say about the controversy surrounding your decision to give Ashley the bee comb?"

* * *

"Okay, okay! We've been at this for two hours. One more question, ummmm. You, the one with the pink hair!"

"Can we get a ladynoir kiss!?"

"I'm sorry, we..."

Nathaniel was drowned out by the roaring crowd of hundreds shouting, chanting even, "Lady. Noir. Lady. Noir."

Marinette didn't want to waste her time in the spotlight, and Adrien didn't want to waste time he could have spent kissing his wife.

The cheers were like the liberation of France, as the famous storyteller J. Mulaney would describe.

 

 


	8. Kwami Swap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, I couldn't find the Tumblr post that inspired the 'ultimate kwami swap'

"I'm going to kill Papillon."

Ladybug, as well the rest of the Miraculous Five, were _**pissed.**_ The Rampire (a teen who got drunk, tried to get a Monster energy drink, then repeatedly rammed the machine when it got stuck. He was akumatized because Monster isn't a brand of apple juice as his impaired mind thought) was first spotted at 11PM, then took the teen heros on a destructive tour of the City of Lights.

For 13 hours.

The five were extremely tired, and all, although separately, knowing they'll get detention. They resolved to finish this quickly.

"Renard Rouge, Queen Bee, go up ahead to the next subway station and secure the tunnel. Mort Noir, go with them, but go into the tunnel. Use your black fur for camouflage, and night vision for an ambush. Carapace, come with me and chase him into the tunnel."

* * *

*One inability to write decent fight scenes later*

* * *

"Oh wow, Nette! I'm so late! My parents are going to kill me!" Joan Dupain-Cheng exclaimed to her Kwami, Nette. Even through her anxiety attack, she managed to open the container of powdered chocolate for Nette to recharge with.

"Calm down, Joan. It will work out. Although, the level of involvement in your life is unprecedented. I just wish I could talk to Adien, because I think we need to reassess the secrecy."

"Wait, you want me to reveal myself to Mort Noir?"

"Not exactly. I just want to talk with his Kwami to see if we should change how we look at the secret identity idea."

* * *

Green light flashed in the subway bathroom, and Felix Agreste came out. He reaches into his designer leather jacket, and fished out a spinach quiche for his Kwami. He then pulled out a wheel of Camembert, to rip off a piece for himself.

"So, you're getting detention. What will you say to your father?"

"Probably nothing. He's been hiding away in his office lately. I'm talking to Aunt Nathalie more than I'm talking to him! But, at least she gives me whatever treats I ask for. I just hope Dad's okay."

* * *

 

 Inside the Cesaire home, particularly in one of their many children's bedroom, a dark orange light came and went. Where Renard Rouge stood, Frank Cesaire now stands. Alaya the Kwami rushes to the kitchen for a little personal box of Trix cereal. Frank, knowing there was a zero percent chance of getting to school on time, took a shower. He carried all his clothes to the laundry, put his binder on, and then put on a new set of clothes.

* * *

 

"Why didn't you call your daddy, Amber! This is ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous! The mayor's daughter should not be punished!" screamed Chloe from Amber Bourgeois's purse as she walked away from Mrs. Bustier's classroom, with a detention scheduled.

"You aren't the one being punished, and besides- I'd have to explain where I was all day."

"I guess. But I'll be the one in your bag all day!"

"Like normal?"

* * *

"Master Lahiffe, what's detention?'

"Well, it's when we have to stay after school. Like, an hour I think. Don't worry, it'll be time I can use to try and translate the book. We need to find the rest of your family, don't we?"

* * *

" **GET UP** "

Norman Agreste was overcome with an unfathomable pain in the back of his skull. Blood and tears leaked from his eyes, to be eaten by the creature, the monster, the _demon_ that was found in the catacomb with the cracked lapel he cannot take off and the bloodied, encrypted journal.

" **GET UP OR I HURT YOUR SON"**

That got him moving. Norman raised his head and faced the Kwami, who refused to give his name. He took the name _Gabriel_ from a book to torture his host even more. Nothing hurts a devout family man more than attacking his family and his faith. He was broken when he woke up surrounded by his wife's blood. He was shattered when he learned his demon attacked his son. And he was hopeful when he learned his sister-in-law Nathalie was able to translate the journal located in the catacombs, at least partially.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm planning a separate seen where everyone (well, the teens) get their kwami name, or similar, in a Breakfast Club style detention fic. I just couldn't write it now


End file.
